Save You
by mandycakes69
Summary: Amanda was just expecting a quiet summer with her grandmother when she boarded that plane. She never expected her life to change, never expected to fall in love. But big things happen when you least expect them, and that's exactly what happened to Amanda as she stepped off her plane, in a little town called Mullingar.
1. Chapter 1

**Amanda**

I groggily opened my eyes and blinked a few times, struggling to adjust to the light. I looked at the clock on my bedside table that read _5:00_. I mentally cursed my mother for barging in and turning on the lights at such an early hour. A few seconds later, my brain processed what day it was. Today was the day I could finally leave this hellhole.

Six months ago, my grandmother had moved herself out to Mullingar, a small town in Ireland. She had always been interested in Irish culture and had tracked our family tree through several generations to find out that her side of the family was mostly Irish. It wasn't much of a surprise when she had given us the news of her move across the Atlantic.

My grandmother and I had always been close. I loved when she visited because she never treated me like a child. She talked to me like I was an adult and I loved that. We usually stayed on the subject of books, which was easily the most comfortable topic of conversation for me. We would talk about which books we were reading and make recommendations. I loved talking to her because she was the only person in my family who read as much as I did. My parents stuck to television and all of my cousins were far more interested in sports than books. I was always eager for my grandmother's visits so that I could finally talk about what I was actually interested in.

I knew that her move would make visits even scarcer, so I wasn't too thrilled about it. So when she offered to let me stay with her for the summer, I was ecstatic. I had always wanted to visit "The Emerald Isle" and I knew that two months with my grandmother would be just what I needed.

I clumsily got out of bed and walked, half-asleep, to my open suitcase. I had packed, unpacked, and repacked several times over to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. I went through everything one last time and walked to my dresser.

I had barely any clothes left; most of my small wardrobe was packed for the trip. I threw on my only remaining pair of jeans, which I had saved for today. They were my favorite red skinny jeans. I opened another drawer and rummaged through it, desperately trying to find a shirt that I liked that hadn't been packed. I finally found my favorite 'Florence + the Machine' t-shirt and put that on too. I ran my brush through my obnoxiously wavy hair and threw it into my suitcase.

I went into the bathroom and quickly brushed my teeth and took my makeup bag from the bathroom cabinet. I applied a quick coat of mascara and looked in the mirror. I wasn't looking my best, that's for sure, but I was only going on a plane. My grandmother wouldn't care how I looked, so I really had no one to impress. I walked out of the bathroom and into my bedroom, placing my makeup bag and my toothbrush into my suitcase.

I glanced at my clock again, which now read _5:25_. My flight was at seven and the airport was about fifteen minutes away, so I knew we'd have to leave in a few minutes.

I walked back to my room and zipped up my suitcase. I glanced around to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything and my eyes locked on my jewelry box. I slowly walked over to it and opened the top. I peered in and saw the familiar rectangular box that had been taken out too many times. I took it and slid it into my pocket, knowing that I could barely go two weeks, let alone two months without what was inside it. My thoughts wandered to last week, six days ago to be exact, and the last time I had taken out the tiny box.

I removed the all-too-familiar blade from the box in which I kept it. It felt oddly reassuring to have it in my hands again. I expertly positioned the blade between my fingers and dragged the sharp edge across the skin covering my wrist. I applied more and more pressure as I dragged it along, gasping when I had gone a bit too deep. I stopped the pressure and drew my hand away, looking down, pleased, at my work.

Blood was rising to the surface and I sighed. A mixture of pain and pleasure coursed throughout my whole arm as the blood slowly trickled down. I placed the blade back in its case and the case back into my jewelry box. I quietly took a tissue to my wrist and allowed the blood to be absorbed. I put a couple of bracelets on once the bleeding had stopped and went out to the dining room for dinner. I smiled to myself as I sat down to eat, my parents completely oblivious to what I had just done. If only they knew.

I smiled faintly at the memory.

"Amanda! Hurry up; we have a flight to catch!", my mother yelled from somewhere in the house.

"I'm coming!" I yelled back.

I quickly slipped on my Converse and grabbed my suitcase and carryon bag and left my room. My mom was already leaving the house and heading for the car, so I quickly rushed outside and threw everything into the trunk.

I slipped my iPod out from my pocket and put my ear-buds in as I sat down in the passenger seat. I wasn't in the mood to listen to my mother give me a lecture on safety and get emotional about not seeing me for the summer. I skimmed through all the songs I had and finally settled on "Flume" by Bon Iver. I stared out of the window, excitement finally settling in for the adventure ahead of me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Amanda**

The car ride to the airport was one full of anticipation. With every passing minute, I got more excited for the trip. Finally, twenty minutes and six songs after it had left the house, my mother's old Toyota pulled into the airport's parking lot.

Still tired from the unusually early time I woke; I lazily opened the car door and took my suitcase out. As my mother and I walked silently into the airport, I started to get a bit nervous. I had never been on a plane before, let alone one that would be taking me halfway around the world. Not to mention the fact I wouldn't be accompanied by either of my parents.

As I walked through the airport's entrance, I was greeted by dozens of sounds, some of which were almost impossible to identify. People were talking in all different languages, machinery was beeping and buzzing, carts stacked high with luggage were being dragged around by impatient flyers.

My mother walked swiftly to the main desk and I followed. She started to talk with the woman behind the desk and continued doing so for several minutes. Finally, she motioned for me to follow her and we walked to another section of the airport to get our luggage checked.

After removing my jacket and shoes and explaining to the security guard that my nose piercing was only a few weeks old and couldn't be removed yet, I walked through the metal detector. It went off on my piercing, but other than that, I was clean. The other guards inspected the contents of my suitcase and carryon and then finally let me go.

We walked to one more section of the airport to sit and wait for my flight to be ready. I sat in one of the comfortable, cushioned chairs and put my ear-buds back in. My mother sat in the chair next to me, tentatively listening for my flight to be called. About twenty minutes later, the intercom announced that flight 334 to Dublin was boarding. I took out my ear buds and got my luggage together. My mom kissed the top of my head and walked me over to the right terminal, waving as an attendant told me what to do when I boarded the plane.

I stepped onto the plane and found my seat. I took the window seat and listened to the pilot speak as everyone boarded. After everyone was seated and the luggage put away, I put my ear-buds back in and closed my eyes. Since I had so little sleep the night before, it sounded like a good idea to get some rest over the six and a half hour flight.

About two hours later, I woke up from my much-needed nap. I took out my ear buds and put my iPod into my pocket. I reached to the floor for my carryon and lifted it to my lap, taking out an extremely worn copy of my favorite book _Catcher in the Rye_. I started to re-read it for probably the hundredth time, but it never got old.

I spent the rest of the plane ride reading _Catcher_ and looking out the window, although looking out the window had become exceedingly boring as all that was below the plane was ocean. Several times throughout the flight, the attendant offered me water and peanuts and various other things. I knew she was just doing her job, but the fake smile plastered on her face was really starting to annoy me. Finally, at around 7 pm, the plane touched down in Dublin. I felt so weird; my body thought it was 2 pm, yet the sky was just beginning to darken.

After receiving very specific directions from the attendants, the other passengers and I got our carryon bags and exited the plane. Once I had stepped down from the plane, I started looking around for my grandmother. The plan was that she'd pick me up from the airport and then we'd drive to Mullingar.

I continued looking around for my grandmother when my phone rang. I slipped my cell phone from my pocket and checked the caller ID. It was my grandmother, so I picked it up quickly.

"Hello?"

"Amanda! So there's a little change in plans."

"Um…okay. What going on?"

"I don't feel well today, so I'm having my neighbor pick you up from the airport, alright?"

I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. I had been so excited to see my grandmother.

"That's sounds good. Who am I looking for?" I asked.

"He's a litter older than you. He has blonde hair and he's wearing a grey sweater. His name's Niall."

"Okay, I'll look for him. See you soon."

I got off the phone and grabbed my suitcase from the conveyor belt and started my search for this 'Niall'. There were hundreds of people in the airport, and all I knew was that Niall was blonde and wearing grey. That was definitely going to help me. After I walked around the airport aimlessly for about fifteen minutes, I decided to take a little break.

I sat on one of the chairs that lined the walls and took my phone out again. No messages. That wasn't a surprise, considering I'm the polar opposite of popular. I noticed that one of my scars was showing and I quickly readjusted my bracelets. I couldn't risk anyone seeing them. Not after what had happened the last time someone had seen them.

I sat in my history class, drawing along the borders of the hand-out I had just received. My teacher had left the room to take an important call and had left no one in charge, so of course everyone was getting out of their seats and yelling across the room to their friends. I sat at my desk, still mindlessly doodling, when Erika, one of my best friends, sat down in the seat next to me.

"Amanda, what were the answers to the English homework? I didn't understand it."

This was typical of Erika. She knew how much I hated just giving her the answers, but she was one of my closest friends, so I always ended up giving her them anyway. I sighed and rummaged through my binder for the English assignment. I felt one of my bracelets fall further down my arm, and was going to fix it once I got the sheet out.

"What happened to your arm?" Erika asked.

I remember the panic that spread throughout my whole body. I hadn't told Erika about the cutting.

"Nothing; my dog scratched me." That excuse has usually worked.

"Let me see."

Without asking, Erika grabbed my arm and pulled a couple of bracelets out of the way, revealing an uncountable amount of scars and fresh cuts. I saw her eyes get wide. Her smile vanished. And then she put my arm back down and walked back to her desk without the English homework. And she never talked to me again.

Once my bracelets were all in place, I looked around once more. My eyes landed on a very attractive blonde boy in a grey sweater and dark jeans. He was alone and I could tell that he was looking for someone in particular. Maybe he was Niall.

I grabbed my luggage and started walking over to the boy, hoping beyond hope that he was Niall. I couldn't stand waiting around this crowded airport for another second. As I got closer to the boy, his eyes locked with mine and he smiled. He had teeth that were adorably crooked; I'm a sucker for imperfections.

"Are you Niall?" I asked shyly.

**Niall**

I had been at the airport for about ten minutes, looking around for 'Amanda', my neighbor's granddaughter. She hadn't really told me much about Amanda's appearance, just that she had wavy, brown hair. That didn't really help much, considering about half the girls at the airport fit that description.

I stood against one wall of the airport to get a better look at everyone. I surveyed the huge room, looking for a lone girl with brown hair. After several minutes of looking, a girl who fit the vague description of Amanda walked over to me.

"Are you Niall?" she asked, obviously shy.

I almost fainted when I heard that American accent; I love girls with accents.

"Yeah, are you Amanda?"

She nodded her head and smiled at me, a smile that I quickly returned.

Now that I knew this was Amanda, I took a closer look at her. She was wearing red skinny jeans and a tee shirt for a band that I had heard of but never actually listened to. I made a mental note to start listening to them.

"So, shall we go now? We have an hour ride to Mullingar." I said sheepishly.

"Sure, let me just run to the bathroom real quick." Amanda answered.

She leaned her suitcase up against the wall and headed in the direction of the bathrooms. I watched her as she walked away and couldn't help but stare. She was really very pretty. Her wavy, brown hair cascaded perfectly down her shoulders and back, even as she walked. I had originally thought that this summer would be boring, just like any other summer, but now I started to doubt that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Niall**

A couple of minutes later, Amanda came back from the bathroom. Her suitcase seemed pretty heavy and she looked really tired, so I decided to take her luggage. As I reached for the handle, so did she, and for a split-second, our fingers touched. I felt a little shot of electricity course through my whole arm. Why was this girl having such an effect on me?

"I'm fine, Niall. It's not that heavy" she said, referring to the suitcase.

"Are you sure? I don't mind." I had never wanted to help someone so much in my life.

"Yes, but thank you for the offer." She grabbed the handle of the suitcase and started walking towards the exit of the airport, and I had to jog a bit to catch up to her.

We left the airport and I looked around, trying to remember where I had parked. The sun was just starting to set so finding my car was a bit hard. Once I finally spotted my car, I grabbed her free hand and lead her to it. I opened the trunk and carefully placed her luggage in, this time not allowing her to do any of the work.

**Amanda**

I walked around the car and opened the passenger side door. A second after I sat down, Niall opened his door and sat next to me. It took a little while to get out of the crowded airport parking lot, but after a couple of minutes, we hit the open road and started on our way to Mullingar.

After a minute of awkward silence, Niall put on the radio.

"Any requests?" he asked, reaching behind the seat and grabbing a huge stack of CDs.

"What do you have?" I asked, usually not impressed with other people's music. None of my friends liked the music I liked and my favorite bands were almost _never_ on the radio. I shuffled through his CDs and was actually really impressed with his taste.

"You like The Kooks?" I asked, taking '_Inside In Inside Out'_ from the stack of CDs. It was one of my favorite albums and I couldn't believe he had it.

"They're one of my favorite bands" Niall replied, and I put the CD in. A second later, '_Seaside_' started playing.

"I love this song" I said as I started to smile.

"Me too" he replied, shooting a smile back at me.

Gosh, his teeth were adorable.

For the next couple of songs we just sat in his car, singing along. I usually wasn't comfortable singing in front of other people, especially not exceedingly attractive foreign boys I had just met, but something felt different about Niall. I wasn't so self-conscious about my voice, which happens to sound like that of a wounded animal's. Niall, on the other hand, actually had a really nice voice. It was so good that at some points I started to lip-synch just so I could hear it more clearly. It was amazing.

Just as _'She Moves in her Own Way' _was ending, Niall turned down the stereo a bit.

"So are you excited about spending the summer in Mullingar?" he asked curiously.

"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for this for months. I've always wanted to come to Ireland." I said with a bit too much enthusiasm.

"Ireland _is_ pretty great!" he said, swelling with pride.

"It's bound to be better than America."

"Why is that? America seems really cool."

"It's not. It's actually quite boring" I stated, being completely honest with him.

"But aren't you from New York? Isn't that fun?" he asked. Clearly the image that New York City had had given everyone the impression that the whole damn state was exciting.

"I'm not from the city; I'm from the _state_ New York. The city is pretty fun at first, but everywhere else in New York is really boring. There's nothing to do except look at some trees. I guess the scenery is pretty, but you get so used to it awfully quick."

"It's the same in Ireland, I guess. I'm just not as displeased with my country as you are" he said jokingly, flashing me that gorgeous smile once more.

"It's not like I _hate_ America. It's just not as great as everyone makes it out to be."

"Whatever you say" he said teasingly.

He turned the stereo up a bit louder and we went back to singing. At one point, Niall even started do an air guitar with one hand, which sent me bursting into laughter.

"You have a cute laugh" he said, starting to giggle a bit too.

"Thanks" I said quietly. I could feel my cheeks start to heat up and I looked down at my lap. I could never take compliments well, mostly because I don't receive them too often. I looked back up at him and he had his eyes back on the road, focusing on his driving.

For the rest of the ride, we listened to the end of the CD, but this time we didn't sing along. It was easy to tell that we were both a little embarrassed. I kept stealing glances at him every couple of minutes and as soon as his head shifted in even the slightest way, I would avert my gaze to the scenery outside the window. I didn't think I could live it down if he caught me staring at him.

In the middle of _'Time Awaits_', the car started slowing down. We were on quite a bumpy road and after a few seconds, pulled into a small driveway. In the small amount of daylight left, I could tell that the house it belonged to was the same house from the many pictures my grandmother had sent me.

_This is it._


	4. Chapter 4

**Niall**

We pulled into the driveway of Suzanne, the grandmother of the breathtaking girl who had made my pulse race since I met her. The last twenty minutes of the car ride had been mildly awkward, since I was an idiot and hadn't really meant to compliment her aloud. As soon as the car stopped, Amanda shifted towards me.

"Thank you, for driving me", she said shyly. My God, I love shy girls.

"It's no trouble, really. So um, tomorrow, do you think it'd be alright if I showed you around Mullingar? Your grandmother hasn't really been feeling well lately, and I don't want you to have to stay inside for the whole summer." It seemed to be a valid excuse, but I actually just wanted to see her again.

"Okay. That sounds nice", she answered, a smile forming on her lips.

I smiled at her for what seemed like the fiftieth time today. "Great, so I'll pick you up at around noon then?"

"That sounds good" she replied, still smiling at me. She grabbed her suitcase and walked up the steps to her grandmother's house and gave me a small wave as she walked inside. I had just realized that I had been staring at her the whole time. She must have thought I was insane. I started my car up again and took the literal three second drive to my house next door.

**Amanda**

I walked into my grandmother's semi-new house. It wasn't so much of a house, but more of a cottage, just like all of the other houses I had seen in the area.

"Amanda? Is that you?" I heard my grandmother say, as she walked into the hall to greet me.

"Hi!" I said happily and ran to hug her. I had missed her quite a lot, and was in desperate need of a book talk with her.

"How are you?" she asked me as I pulled away from the hug.

"I'm alright, I suppose" I answered. "So you're not feeling well?" I asked, with a hint of sadness in my voice.

"Oh, it's nothing too bad. My back has just been hurting a bit. That's what happens when you get old" she added with a chuckle. "I don't know if I'll be up for sightseeing for a few weeks though. My doctor said that I should just stay home until my back feels better. I'm sorry; I know how excited you were to visit everything" she said disappointedly.

"Actually" I said, "Your neighbor Niall offered to show me around the town tomorrow, since you're not feeling well. Is that alright? I can always stay and help you, if you need me."

"Oh, that was so sweet of him! He's a very nice boy; of course you can go. I don't want to keep you cooped up in the house for your whole vacation. Now, go unpack and get a bit of rest. You must be tired from your flight and the time difference."

"Yeah, I think I'll just go unpack and then go to bed. I'll see you in the morning then?" I replied tiredly.

"That sounds good. Your room is on the second floor; first door on your left!" she informed me.

I smiled and walked up the stairs and into the first room on my left; my room for the next two months. I looked around at it; it had a full bed on one wall and the walls themselves were painted a light coral, my favorite color. There was a giant wardrobe and dresser on one wall, and a pretty good sized television set mounted on the next wall. The last wall had a big desk leaning against it and next to the desk was another door, leading to my own bathroom. It was really a lovely room.

I sat down on the floor with my suitcase and unzipped it, some of its contents immediately spilling out. I pulled out the books that had been sitting on top and put them on top of the desk. I placed all of my clothes neatly in the dresser and put some of my nicer things in the wardrobe, along with the few pairs of shoes I had packed.

I went into the bathroom and put all of my toiletries away. All that remained in my suitcase was my laptop, my journal, my sketchbook, colored pencils, and paint, and my medication. I put the laptop on the desk next to the pile of books and the pills in the bathroom.

I finally took out the journal and skimmed through it, blood-stained pages filled with negative thoughts jumping out at me. This was the journal where I let all of my thoughts out, where I got rid of everything that was on my chest. It was the only thing that was keeping me from cutting deep enough to kill myself; if I hadn't started writing in it, who knows whether or not I'd still be breathing.

I took the journal and stowed it in the bottom drawer of my dresser and put the tiny box that had been burning a hole in my pocket for the last eight hours beside it.

I glanced at the clock that was hanging on the wall; it read _9:45_. I went into the bathroom and changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top and brushed my teeth. I took my anti-depressant medication, Zoloft, and took my sleeping pills. I could never get to sleep without them, thanks to my anxiety disorder, which is just another mental illness I've been diagnosed with.

I settled into the comfortable bed and turned off the light on the nightstand. I feel asleep within fifteen minutes and found myself dreaming of that adorable blonde boy, Niall.

**Niall**

I had been sitting in my room, playing guitar for about an hour, when I finally put down my instrument in frustration. I couldn't focus on my playing at all. I had no idea why, but Amanda had yet to leave my mind. No girl had ever had this effect on me, and I had just met her less than twelve hours ago! I was happy that I could at least see her again tomorrow, but even that seemed to be too far away.

I looked out my bedroom window, which gave me a view of the side of Amanda's grandmother's, and well, for the summer, Amanda's house. It was usually quite a boring site, but now one of the upper windows was lit. The curtains were opened and I could see Amanda sleeping on her bed. Holy shit. This could not be happening. I had a view of her room. What luck.

I didn't want to seem creepy so I shut my curtains and got back to my guitar, but I couldn't stop thinking about how convenient this was. After about another half hour of playing, I decided to go to bed a bit early; after all, the sooner I was asleep, the sooner I could wake up and take Amanda all around Mullingar.


	5. Chapter 5

**Niall**

I woke up at 10:30, excitement coursing through my veins for the day ahead. I quickly dressed in a white v-neck and tan pants, ending with my red Vans. I wanted to look good for Amanda, so I paid special attention to my unruly dyed blonde hair and tried to make it at least presentable.

I grabbed my wallet and my cell phone and ran out to my car at 11:58. I drive to the house next door and frantically tried to take control of my nerves. Why was I so nervous about this? Finally, I worked up the courage to get out of my car and knock on the door to the cozy-looking cottage.

"Hold on Niall; I'll be right out!" I heard Amanda yell from somewhere in the house.

After a few seconds, she opened the door and smiled at me, giving me an odd, warm feeling in the pit of my stomach. I lead her to my car and after we were seated, I finally took a good, long look at her. She was wearing coral skinny jeans, a loose, white, sleeveless top, and navy blue Toms. Her makeup was minimal and, simply put, she looked beyond beautiful.

"You look really nice, Amanda" I figured she had a right to know, and saying _"You're more beautiful than any girl I've ever seen and I have a huge urge to kiss you right now" _just wasn't the kind of thing you say to someone you've just met the previous day.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself" she said, flashing me a quick smile. "So where are we going today?" she asked me, looking into my eyes.

"That, my dear, is a surprise" I said, hoping I sounded a t least a bit seductive and not like a complete idiot.

"Is that so? Can we at least put on music then before we arrive at this mystery destination?"

I turned around and grabbed the stack of CD's that I had given her yesterday and handed them to her, all the while looking into her chocolate brown eyes. As cliché as this sounds, I was literally getting lost in her eyes.

I snapped out of my trance when Amanda took the CD's from me, settling on Abbey Road by the Beatles. Could her taste in music get any better?

"You like the Beatles?" I asked, staring once again.

"Who doesn't like the Beatles?" she responded whilst putting in the CD.

Almost instantaneously, Come Together started and we both started to sing along. After a minute or two, I noticed that Amanda had stopped singing and was looking at me intently.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" I asked, suddenly overwhelmingly self-conscious.

"No, you're fine. You just have a really nice voice." Her voice trailed off almost immediately and I could tell that she was a bit embarrassed that I had caught her.

"Thank you. Although with your voice, you could surely win a Grammy."

"Are you kidding? I sound like a dying animal" she joked, looking down into her lap.

"Then why do you sing so often?" I asked, puzzled.

"Because it's fun. I'd rather sing terribly than not sing at all" she said matter-of-factly.

I looked at her again, but this time in bewilderment. For the rest of the ride we sang along to the CD, and I didn't question it a bit.

After twenty minutes of stealing glances at Amanda and singing with her, we arrived at our destination.

"Nandos," Amanda said as she read the sign outside.

"I figured we could start off with lunch" I said, smiling at her as I climbed out of the car and opened her door for her.

"I've never heard of Nandos. There are none in America" Amanda said as I grabbed her hand and lead her into the restaurant.

"Don't worry; they have great food." I assured her, already feeling my stomach grumble in anticipation for my favorite meal at my favorite restaurant.

**Amanda**

Niall lead me by the hand to a booth in Nandos and I quickly put distance between our hands and sat down. I was so nervous and holding his hand had made my heart pound. I was worried that he might notice.

Soon, our waitress came over and smiled at Niall, asking his order. He ordered "peri-peri chicken", something I had never heard of in my life.

"And what would you like?" the waitress asked, turning to me and losing her smile at the same time.

"Um, I'll have…" I stared at the menu and tried to make sense of the menu, but almost every single thing had a nonsense word in front of it. What was "peri-peri" supposed to mean anyway?

"She'll have the same thing, peri-peri chicken" Niall said, saving me from making a complete fool of myself.

"Drinks?" the waitress asked, looking at Niall and smiling once more.

"I'll just have water and she'll have…" Niall paused and looked at me before I cut him off. "I'll have root beer" I told the waitress, and she sent one more dazzling smile at Niall and briskly walked away.

"I think it's safe to say that the waitress wholeheartedly wants to bone you." I said, looking at Niall.

He laughed for awhile and it was the most adorable laugh I had ever heard. He was still smiling from laughing so much, but finally said "It doesn't matter anyway. I've had my eye on someone lately."

He smiled at me and I could feel the redness start to show in my cheeks. I hated how often I blushed, but I really couldn't do anything about it. I was always turning red, and this was definitely one of those times.

"So," I started, trying to attract Niall's attention away from my blushing face, "how long have you lived in Mullingar?"

"I've been here all my life. I live with my dad in town usually, but for the summer, I'm with my mum. It's a lot quieter by her house than it is where my dad lives."

I automatically started to feel pity forming for the gorgeous blonde boy sitting in front of me. My parents weren't exactly bursting with love for each other, but I knew that they'd never ever split up. "So your parents are split up?" I asked, noticing for the first time just how bright Niall's blue eyes were.

"Yeah, they split when I was five" he answered, looking at the glass of water the waitress had just brought over.

"I'm sorry, Niall. I won't bring it up again" I said, taking a cautious sip of my root beer. He obviously got upset talking about it and I didn't want to ruin our day.

"No, it's fine, really. It's no big deal. So how long have you lived in New York?" he asked, trying to bring the conversation back to its original state.

"Oh, I've lived in New York my whole life. I used to live in Yonkers, which is kind of a big city in New York, but when I was six we moved upstate to a really small town there."

"Which do you like better? Big cities or small towns?" he asked, with a questioning look on his face.

"I really don't know. I've always had a thing for big cities like London and Paris, but I really do like how cozy small towns are."

"Well, if you had to choose one to live in for the rest of your life, which would you choose?" he asked.

"I guess I'd choose a small town" I answered honestly.

"And why is that?" This boy really wasn't going to let this go, was he?

"Well I like how everyone knows you in a small town. It's like you're a part of a giant family. And I like all of the small, local businesses. I've always loved cute shops a lot more than I've liked giant malls. And you really don't see much greenery in the city. What would you choose?"

"I would choose the city. I mean, when you live in such a big, bustling place, you're bound to have a really exciting life. And I guess being in this small town all my life has really made my life quite boring."

"If it's really so boring, I think you just need to run away from it all once in awhile" I answered.

He looked at me and gave me a small smile, just as the waitress came out with our food.

"Two plates of peri-peri chicken" she stated, setting our food in front of us.

"Niall, what exactly _is_ peri-peri chicken?" I asked, worried to take the first bite.

"It's really good, trust me" he said, already digging into his plate.

I slowly put a forkful of the chicken into my mouth and literally had an orgasm of the mouth. I will never forget the look of surprise on Niall's face when he saw that I had finished before him.

**Niall**

I looked up from my food to see if Amanda was enjoying it and I saw that her plate was nearly empty. She was sitting across from me, looking at me with a smirk on her face, and informed me that I had a bit of sauce on my nose.

I quickly wiped it off with my napkin and sat in shock that a girl had finished her food before me. That was a first.

"How on earth did you finish already?" I asked in amazement.

She smiled at me and simply said "I quite enjoy eating" and took a long sip of her drink.

So Amanda liked good music, was funny, interesting, and liked to eat as much as I do, not to mention she was gorgeous. She seemed pretty perfect to me.

She continued to watch me eat until I finished a few minutes later and we ordered a piece of chocolate cake to split. This was a big test. I hated when girls didn't want to eat dessert for fear of gaining weight. It was the absolute worst.

Our waitress came over and, still annoyingly shooting me smiles but ignoring Amanda completely, set the cake down in the middle of the table and stalked off.

"I bet you she's going to the kitchen to have fantasies about you" Amanda joked, picking up her fork and eating a piece of the warm cake.

"And why do you think that?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"You can just tell by the look in her eyes" she stated.

"What look?" I asked again, smiling at her.

"She had that 'here's-you-food-and-if-you-haven't-noticed-I'm-a-hot-waitress-and-I-think-we-should-fuck' look about her."

"But I don't think she was hot." I said, being completely honest. Sure the waitress wasn't too bad, but when she was standing next to Amanda, there was just no way could she ever compete.

"Are you kidding me? She had such perfect hair and a flat stomach. I wish I looked half as good as her" Amanda said, taking another bite of the cake.

"To be honest, I don't think she looks half as good as you do. How can you even compare yourself to her? I think any guy would choose you over her anyday."

"You're crazy, Niall" she said, obviously trying not to smile.

"I'm not crazy, just telling the truth."

"Well, I think all of the best people are crazy" she said, looking at me.

I tried to think about what she meant by that, but it was obvious to me that I really did not have the same thinking capacity her, so I gave up. We finished the cake and I paid for our lunch, after Amanda practically begged me to at least let her pay for her own meal, but I wouldn't let her. I grabbed her hand and lead her outside but she slipped her hand out from mine before we even reached the car. We both got in and she asked me "So where are we going next?"

I really had no idea where I was going to take her. Mullingar was a really cute-looking town, but it lacked in the department of interesting things to see.

"I'm not quite sure yet. What are you interested in?"

"Well, I'm sort of into art" she explained.

"How much is 'sort of'?" I asked her.

"I paint and I draw but I'm really not that great. I was thinking of maybe going to art school when I'm older, but I'm not really sure."

"The Art Gallery, it is" I said, pleased to see that she was smiling at the idea.

**Amanda**

Niall popped the CD back in and we resumed where we left off, Here Comes the Sun was just starting. We sat in comfortable silence; Niall was driving and I was watching his every move, as usual. We came to a stoplight and he turned swiftly towards me, catching my stare.

"Was my hand sweaty?" he asked me, obviously having worried about this for awhile.

"What?"

"My hand, was it sweaty? You kept on pulling away awfully quickly." Niall continued to look at me, awaiting a response, until the light turned green and he averted his attention back to the road.

"No, you're hand wasn't sweaty. It was nice, I just, I don't know I was a bit worried." I looked out of the window, completely embarrassed at how stupid that must've sounded.

"What were you worried about?" he asked me, concerned.

"I'm not even sure, really. It just takes a lot for me to be really comfortable around someone." That was true enough. I was pretty sure I had started developing mild trust issues. Quite frankly, I had so many mental illnesses already that it wouldn't surprise me if I _did_ have trust issues.

"How long do you think it'll take for you to be completely comfortable around me?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I guess we'll both find out sooner or later." I said, glancing back out the window. I could feel Niall's blue eyes burning holes into the side of my face.

"You know, I wouldn't have minded if you held on a bit longer."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I really wouldn't mind if you kept holding my hand."

And with that, his eyes went back to the road and he turned the stereo up a bit. We were silent for the rest of the car ride, the only noise being the sounds made by John, Paul, Ringo, and George.

**Niall**

We spent the rest of the day at a local art gallery. When Amanda said she was "sort of into" art, she was really under exaggerating. As we moved around the gallery from piece to piece, I watched her. She would stare at the pieces before her and then say something to me about the way the artist must have been feeling and how much time must have been invested. She talked quietly about the different 'medias' used on the pieces, and even though I couldn't understand half of what she said, I couldn't help but smile. She was so into it.

As we left the gallery, I felt Amanda's hand slip into my own. I looked over at her and saw her looking out at the setting sun. I gently squeezed her hand, looking at the sky before us. I felt so content, so comfortable around her. I didn't want the day to end, but all too soon, I found myself driving her back home.


End file.
